“You’re crazy,” he said curtly. “I’m not marrying anyone. Now get out of my apartment before I call the police.”
“You’re not going to do that,” Nick Garret said, a slow, cold smile turning his mouth. “It’s a tricky time to be a Morrow, isn’t it? Lots of secrets coming out. But those aren’t even the bad ones. I know of a few more that won’t make your life any easier should they get into the press.”
Jax thrust his hands in his pockets, a thread of ice winding through him. “You’ve got nothing on us. We would have heard about it years ago if you had.”
“Perhaps I’ve been saving them for a rainy day. Waiting for when I could use them to my advantage.” That smile widened. “And I can see that advantage right now.”
Jax went cold. Of course there were secrets, there always were in a family like his, and it really shouldn’t surprise him that Garret would know about them. But still … it wasn’t like his father to leave such loose ends lying around.
“What do you want?” Jax forced the words out, anger and frustration beginning to burn away the cold. Jesus, where the hell was his usual detachment? His logic? Because he damn well couldn’t afford any stupid emotional reactions now, not with Nick Garret staring at him like a hungry snake.
“I told you what I want. An alliance with Sergei will give me territory but it won’t give me the protection the Morrow name could. Or the respectability. So, marry my daughter; make her a Morrow. Extend your respectable image to my family and in return I won’t tell the world about a few inconvenient murders here and there.”
Oh Christ. The guy was nuts.
“I’m not marrying any-damn-one!” Pandora folded her arms, angry tension in every line of her figure. “This is the twenty-first century, Dad! You can’t make me.”
“Oh really? And where are you going to go for help?”
She paled. “There’s the police. They’ll—”
“You think I haven’t got every police officer in the city in my pocket?” Garret’s voice was derisive. “No, sweetheart. You don’t get a choice.”
How had it gotten to this? How had a simple one-night stand gotten so complicated? Jax should have known not to trust the desire coiling in his gut. He should have held strong.
The anger spilled over and before he quite knew what he was doing, he’d walked forward, getting in Garret’s face. “If you think you can intimidate me—” he began.
The bodyguards closed in instantly, guns at his head.
“Easy boys.” Garret flicked his fingers and the men stood back. “I’m not intimidating you, Morrow. I’m blackmailing you. I want Morrow protection, respectability, and I’ll do what I must to get it.”
“So you can keep on doing what you’re doing?”
“Of course. You’ll keep the heat off. I think it’s a fair trade, don’t you?”
“Dad,” Pandora said quietly, though her vibrated with fury. “Don’t do this. Why can’t you just … leave me alone?”
“I’m a businessman, sweetheart. I always have been, I always will be.”
“Is that all I am? Just business to you?”
Garret stared at her, his expression unreadable. “I do what I have to do, you know that. And like I said, it’s for your protection.”
“Dad—”
“Well, Morrow? Do we have a deal?”
Jax glanced at Pandora, standing with arms wrapped around herself as if she were cold. Her dark eyes were huge, shadows from their eventful night marking her pale skin.
No wonder she hadn’t wanted to tell him who she was, when she had this bastard for a father.
God, he hated the look on her face, her expression closed up, all the heat and fire and challenge he’d seen the night before extinguished.
“It’s okay, Hunt or Jax or whoever you are,” Pandora said before he could speak, her voice not quite level. “I’m not dragging you into this. I’ll go home with him, it’s fine.”
“Very noble, sweetheart,” Garret said with a shrug. “I’m sure Sergei will appreciate you if Morrow isn’t coming to the party.”
Jax’s fingers curled in the pockets of his jeans. She looked so defeated. So what the fuck, what was he doing standing here? Saying nothing? Doing nothing? He always knew what to do, never had any problems with making the tough decisions. Cool and calm and detached, that’s how he worked it.
But you’re not cool and calm and detached now, are you?
No. He wasn’t. He was angry. No, shit, he was furious. And frustrated. And … possessive. Christ, he didn’t know where the hell that particular emotion had come from but it was certainly there. The thought of his Snow White being given like a thing to someone else was so not happening.
Jax looked Nick Garret in the eyes. “In that case, yes. I’ll marry your daughter.”
Chapter 6
Pandora gazed out of the window of the limo as it pulled up to Morrow Tower, the massive skyscraper that housed Morrow Incorporated. She was still in her red silk dress from the night before and felt vaguely ridiculous. The ultimate walk of shame.
Hardly. You’re an engaged woman now, aren’t you?
She forced that thought back to the darkness it came from. No, she wasn’t engaged. Not really. This was all supposed to be for show, to get her father off her back.
“You’re insane. You know that, right?” she said, looking up at the glittering glass and steel edifice.
Jax finished sending a text or e-mail or whatever it was from his phone and put it away in his jacket pocket. He was dressed in an expertly tailored suit and tie, all that primitive, exciting masculine power firmly encased in his civilized armor. His expression was unreadable, his blue eyes opaque. “I told you not to worry. Nobody’s going to be marrying anyone.”
“Yeah, you keep saying that.” She swallowed, trying not to let the panic choke her.
“You need to trust me. In fact you probably should have trusted me last night.”
Pandora glanced at him. “What? And told you my name?”
“Yes.”
“And what would you have done if you’d known I was Nick Garret’s daughter?”
The look in his blue eyes flickered, giving her the answer she’d expected anyway.
“Yeah, well, now you know why I didn’t.” Regardless of that though, she had trusted him last night and that had been before she knew who he was. Now? God, it wasn’t as if she had a choice anyway. She either went back to her father and married Sergei or …
“I don’t need you to bring me back here,” she said, gesturing out the window. “I can go …” She trailed off. Because of course, she couldn’t go anywhere, could she? She had no other clothes, no money, nothing.
“Where?” Jax’s blue eyes were almost cold as they swept over her. He seemed … different from the raw, passionate man he’d been last night. Much more contained. Detached even. She wasn’t sure she liked the change.
“I dunno. A hotel or something. If you loaned me some money that is … ”
The car door was pulled open by the driver, and the sounds of the city flooded in.
“You’re not going to a hotel,” Jax said flatly. “I wouldn’t trust your father as far as I could throw him. No, you’ll be under my protection now, which means you’re staying with me at my apartment in the Morrow Tower until we sort this out.”
“Under your protection? Jesus, you’re as bad as my father. This isn’t the Middle Ages, you know! I’m not some little doormat woman you can order around whenever and wherever you please.”
“I know you’re not.”
“Do you?” All the anger and frustration that had been trapped inside her back at the apartment seemed to roll over her in one choking wave. “Do you really? Because if you think I’m going to go into another fucking cage, another fucking tower like a good little girl, you’ve got another think coming.”
He stared at her, blue eyes seeing right inside her. Then abruptly he leaned forward, putting a large warm hand over hers where it rested on her knee
. “It’ll be okay.” His voice was so certain and sure. “I promise. You only have to trust me. Can you do that?”
The heat of his hand seemed to move up her arm, spreading out, somehow easing the clutch of emotion inside her. A reassurance she hadn’t even realized she’d needed. She let out a breath. “Yeah … okay. I … trust you.”
He didn’t move away immediately, the look in his eyes changing, flaring. That detached manner of his had dropped away, tension crackling in the air between them. He could slide that hand higher and inwards, his fingertips brushing…
She caught her breath, her body beginning to respond, an ache between her thighs. In all of this mess there was at least one thing that still remained the same: their chemistry.
She thought he might lean forward more, to kiss her or something, but just when the tension got to snapping point, he removed his hand and looked away. “After you,” he said without inflection.
Oh, yes, right. The door was open.
Not without a certain amount of reluctance, Pandora got out. Jax followed and she waited while he spoke to the driver, then came along behind him into the building. The foyer was cavernous and echoing, with lots of glass and marble—a testament to money and style.
Jax went over to a bank of elevators and swiped a card through one of the readers. The doors opened almost immediately and he gestured for her to enter first.
“Very polite,” she muttered as she stepped inside. “Quite the gentleman, aren’t you?”
“Someone has to be.” He punched a button and the elevator began to move.
She leaned against the railing at the back, trying to ignore the fact that they were in a very small, confined space alone. “You weren’t last night.”
He was standing near the doors, his hands in his pockets, the broad line of his shoulders tense. The look on his face tightened. “Last night won’t happen again.”
Annoyingly, disappointment threaded through her. “Why not? I liked it.”
“Because we have more important things to worry about than sex.”
“You’re kind of uptight, you know that?”
“Your opinion is noted.”
The railing was a hard line against her spine, the mirrored interior reflecting her pale face back at her. There were bruises on her neck. Bruises from his mouth.
The thought sent more electricity racing through her and dammit the disappointment became a little sharper. She shifted against the railing and caught his blue eyes watching her in the glass. There was hunger in his gaze.
She raised a brow at him. “If you don’t want last night again, then why are you looking at me like that?”
“I never said it was because I didn’t want you.”
The sharpness of the disappointment eased. How stupid that such a small affirmation should make her feel better, but it did. Compliments that actually meant something had been few and far between in her life.
“Too sexy for ya, huh?” She tried to keep it light, flippant.
“Too sexy, too passionate, and far too much for any man in his right mind, Pandora Garret.” In the mirrored paneling, his gaze met hers once again and her heart contracted at the intensity in his blue eyes, heat washing over her. “You must know that, surely?”
“Actually, no, I didn’t.” Her voice was much hoarser than she would have liked. “No one’s ever said anything like that to me before.”
“Why not? You’re beautiful. Any fool can see that.”
She looked away, an emotion she didn’t quite understand clogging her throat. “I don’t care about beauty. It doesn’t mean anything. The only thing my looks ever did for me was to make me a more valuable commodity for Dad. Like an added bonus or something.” She bit her lip. “Being beautiful has got nothing to do with me. Not me as a person.”
A silence fell.
“I don’t see you as a commodity,” Jax said quietly. “I’ll admit it was your face that made me look last night. But it was the fire in your eyes that made me ask you home.”
A small glow of pleasure took up residence behind her breastbone. She tried to hide it, not wanting him to know how much that simple statement meant to her, but she knew it was probably obvious by the blush on her cheeks. Ah, well, too bad. Let him see.
“Do you regret it?” she asked, catching his gaze in the mirror again. “Asking me home, I mean?”
“No.” A fierce light burned in his blue eyes. “Not one single second.”
For a moment something hovered between them, something important.
Then the elevator pinged and the doors opened. And the moment vanished.
Jax turned away. “Come on. We’re here.”
*
“Jesus, Jax. You never put a foot out of line for years and the next thing we know, Nick Garret is blackmailing you into marrying his daughter. Only you would have a one-night stand where you end up having to get married.”
“This isn’t a fucking joke, Van,” Jax growled into the phone, not appreciating his brother’s amused tone.
“No, it isn’t. It’s just sex and blackmail. It’s not even like you murdered her in a dark alley or anything.” Donovan paused. “Unless you have murdered her in a dark alley, in which case we’ll have some serious shit to deal with.”
“I didn’t murder anyone. She’s right here in my penthouse.”
“What, you’ve moved in together already? Don’t tell me you’re in love.”
Jax couldn’t help himself, shooting a glance through the dining-room doorway to where Pandora stood. Among the glass and steel and concrete of his clean, minimalist lounge area, she was a bright pop of color and softness in her red dress with her silky black hair falling down her back. She was gazing out the massive windows, one hand pressed against the glass, her dress pulling tight over her curves, outlining them to perfection.
Heat gathered low inside him, a heavy, persistent feeling.
Yes, she was beautiful, but he’d told her the truth back there in the elevator. It hadn’t been her beauty that had made him want her. It had been her uncertainty, then her bravery, the look of challenge she’d given him, and the chemistry that had ignited between them that had done it. And now, the flash of vulnerability she’d given away in response to his confession only tightened his desire for her even further. Made him want to know more.
Garret hadn’t been kind to his daughter, that much was obvious. Physically it looked like he hadn’t harmed her … but emotionally? There were secrets there and he wanted to find out what they were.
You decided you weren’t going there again, remember?
Donovan gave a delicate cough. “It’s happened, hasn’t it? You’ve found The One.”
Ah, Christ, he should not be thinking about her like this. Forcing his attention back to his phone call, he said tersely, “Don’t be stupid. She’s got nowhere else to go and I don’t trust her father one inch. And no, of course I’m not in love with her, nor am I going to marry her.”
“So what are you going to do then? Personally I think the scandal boat’s already sailed when it comes to Morrow’s secrets. Let the bastard splash them all over the media. There’s nothing I can’t spin to make us look good.”
Jax gritted his teeth. His brother was a PR master and Jax admired his confidence, but Donovan hadn’t been back at Morrow long. Although he’d been the head of his own very successful PR company for years prior to returning to the family fold and no stranger to scandal himself, Jax couldn’t afford any risks now.
Garret had been right. This was his first test as CEO. He had to look in control otherwise the shit storm that had started with the docklands exposé was only going to get worse.
“No,” he said. “I’m sorry but I’m not risking Morrow’s reputation on your ability to make crap smell like roses.”
“You don’t trust me?”
There was a note of something he didn’t recognize in Donovan’s voice. “Of course I trust you, but this is my mess. I have to deal with it.”
“Awesome
vote of confidence. Thanks.”
“Hey, I’m talking to you, aren’t I?”
There was a silence on the other end of the phone. Then at last Donovan said, all business now, “What do you want me to do then?”
He’d been thinking it about the moment her father had left the apartment, turning it over in his head. A way to keep Garret happy and protect her long enough for them to find a more permanent solution.
“I need a press release announcing my engagement to Pandora Garret drawn up and sent out by the end of the day. It needs to sound like we’ve been dating a while and we kept it quiet until we were sure. That’ll get Garret off our back while I do some investigating. See if I can’t find something on him that’ll make him think twice about spilling Morrow secrets.”
“That’s all you want from me? A press release?”
“You can also organize an engagement party and a few public outings for us.”
“Excellent. Would you like me to do some dictation and get your dry cleaning, too?” his brother said with thinly veiled sarcasm.
Okay, so something was clearly up with Donovan, but shit, he didn’t have the time to negotiate his brother’s feelings. Morrow Incorporated and the situation he was in now were too damn important. Besides, he needed a cool head for that and cool was the last thing he was feeling right now.
“The press release, Van,” he said curtly. “By this afternoon.”
After he’d ended the call, he put his phone away and walked through into the lounge area, his footsteps sharp on the polished concrete floor.
Pandora turned around as he approached, the window at her back, sunlight glossing her hair. “Nice place,” she said, looking around. “Very … homey. Could use a couple of rugs though.”
Yes, rugs. Soft ones he could lay her down on, ease the red silk of her dress up, put his hands between her thighs, stroke her, make her wet…
Jax ground his teeth, forced the thoughts away and ignored the ache in his groin. “You might need to get used to doing without rugs. I have a plan.”
The Billion Dollar Bachelor Page 6